Fake Ellen DeGeneres Facebook pages and accounts are taking over the social network. A large amount of them are appearing every day claiming to be associated with Ellen DeGeneres.
The fraudulent Ellen DeGeneres Facebook pages and accounts claim to be giving away cash, gift cards, cars, houses, and other prizes to fans who follow instructions published in Facebook posts.
Some fake Ellen DeGeneres pages insist that you share a post, like the post, and comment on the post, while others want you to visit questionable website to complete never-ending online surveys.
To be clear, you will not win anything from a fake Ellen DeGeneres Facebook page or post. You won’t win anything if you share, like or comment on a post. You won’t win anything if you participate in online surveys bolstered by the fake accounts and pages.
The fake Ellen DeGeneres Facebook pages and accounts are in no way affiliated with the popular television host Ellen DeGeneres or her daytime talk show. You can find the verified Ellen DeGeneres Facebook page here and only here: https://www.facebook.com/ellentv/
Many of the fake Ellen DeGeneres Facebook pages and accounts misspell her name such as Ellenn’s Dgenerse, Ellenn DeGgners Jr., and Ellen DeGagares. However, this doesn’t stop people from participating. You would think that Ellen and people who work on her TV show know to spell her name, right?
The purpose of the fake Ellen DeGeneres Facebook accounts and pages vary by each account or page. Some want you to participate in online surveys to phish your personal information such as your full name, date of birth, email address, home address, and more. They will even ask you questions (your interests, hobbies, career, etc.) in order to gather more information about you. The information gathered about you is used for unknown purposes. But, you can expect to receive junk mail at home, spam email messages in your inbox, and telephone calls from telemarketers, robocallers, and potential scammers.
Some scams are simply like-farming scams designed to gather Facebook likes for a page. These can typically be harmless but can be used to make the Facebook page seem legitimate in the future.
The biggest issue with fake Ellen DeGeneres Facebook accounts and pages that claim you can win something is advanced fee fraud. For example, the Facebook page may claim that you can win a car if you share, like, and comment on the post. Then, the scammer will contact you via Facebook and claim that you won. The scammer will ask for an advanced payment in order to receive the car. The scammed may claim that the advanced payment is for shipping or another reason. Once the payment is fulfilled the scammer moves onto the next target and the victim does not obtain the prize.
If anything, be aware that there are many fake Ellen DeGeneres Facebook accounts and pages that want to scam you. Avoid them if possible and let your friends know about them. If you see a friend sharing a fraudulent post, let them know that they are putting themselves in potential danger.
What to do if you fell for a scam
- Do not share or like the post. This only promotes it to more people which is how these scams are usually spread in the first place. If you did, visit your activity and unlike the post.
- If you completed online surveys associated there is not much that you can do. However, if you supplied your personal banking or credit information to a survey it is strongly suggested to contact your bank or credit institution for assistance.
- If you sent an advanced payment in order to receive a prize contact your bank or credit card and file a claim against the transaction. Explain to your bank or the credit card company what happened in order to receive assistance for the matter.
- If you used an online payment service to make an advanced payment contact them and let them know what happened. It is possible that you will be able to receive your money back from them.
- Terminate all association with the Facebook page. Unlike the Facebook page, report the Facebook page, tell friends that you might have tagged about the scam, and even change your Facebook password for safe measure.
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